About bitcoin.org

Bitcoin.org is dedicated to help Bitcoin to develop in a sustainable way.

Who owns bitcoin.org?

Bitcoin.org was originally registered and owned by Bitcoin's first two developers, Satoshi Nakamoto and Martti Malmi. When Nakamoto left the project, he gave ownership of the domain to additional people, separate from the Bitcoin developers, to spread responsibility and prevent any one person or group from easily gaining control over the Bitcoin project.

From 2011 to 2013, the site was primarily used for releasing new versions of the software now called Bitcoin Core. In 2013, the site was redesigned into its current form, adding numerous pages, listing additional Bitcoin software, and creating the translation system. Developer documentation was added in 2014.

Today the site is an independent open source project with contributors from around the world. Final publication authority is held by the co-owners, but all regular activity is organized through the public pull request process and managed by the site co-maintainers.

Bitcoin.org is not Bitcoin's official website. Just like nobody owns the email technology, nobody owns the Bitcoin network. As such, nobody can speak with authority in the name of Bitcoin.

Then... who controls Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is controlled by all Bitcoin users around the world. Developers are improving the software but they can't force a change in the rules of the Bitcoin protocol because all users are free to choose what software they use. In order to stay compatible with each other, all users need to use software complying with the same rules. Bitcoin can only work decently with a complete consensus between all users. Therefore, all users and developers have strong incentives to adopt and protect this consensus.

Invite talented humans to help with Bitcoin development at many levels.

Provide visibility to the large scale Bitcoin ecosystem.

Improve Bitcoin worldwide accessibility with internationalization.

Remain a neutral informative resource about Bitcoin.

Help us

You can report any problem or help to improve bitcoin.org on GitHub by opening an issue or a pull request in English. When submitting a pull request, please take required time to discuss your changes and adapt your work. You can help with translations by joining a team on Transifex. Please don't ask for promotion for your personal business or website, except for special cases like conferences. Many thanks to all contributors who are spending time improving bitcoin.org!